Smooth Operator

Hotelier André Balazs adds Long Island–grown wine to his portfolio of unique properties on both coasts

Issue: September 30, 2009

André Balazs recoils when people call him a trendsetter or tastemaker. “All of those titles are something to be avoided like the plague,” Balazs says. Balazs owns eight hotel properties, none of them boring or stodgy. Several fit the Marmont mold, being located in striking structures with intriguing histories. His most recent project, the Standard Hotel in New York’s Meatpacking District, attracted gawkers and giddy anticipation for more than a year.

For the full article, check out the new issue of Wine Spectator, on newsstands August 24, 2009.

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